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BATON ROUGE — The Middle District of Louisiana announced several charges and guilty pleas on Tuesday as part of a nationwide crackdown targeting fraud on the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program.
The PPP is a loan program launched by the SBA during COVID-19 to help businesses pay their employees, mortgages, rent and utilities. Applications for new loans closed in May 2021.
This year, from June 12 to Sept. 1, federal prosecutors from across the country, led by the Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division, the SBA and the SBA Office of Inspector General, facilitated enforcement actions spanning over 160 criminals, including 80 newly charged defendants, totaling $245 million in intended loss to taxpayers.
“Millions of taxpayer dollars have been wrongfully obtained through fraudulent PPP loans. Our office is committed to finding those who have scammed the system, and we will prosecute them to the fullest extent possible,” U.S. Attorney Kurt Wall said in a prepared statement.
In the Middle District of Louisiana, 17 defendants have been prosecuted as part of this takedown.
Charges announced:
Jovan Renee Darbonne, 47, of Baton Rouge, charged with making false statements to a financial institution on Aug. 31; she pleaded guilty. According to the charging document, Darbonne allegedly submitted fictitious 2020 IRS Form 941s on behalf of LA Educational Fund, LLC to a bank in support of a Paycheck Protection Program loan application,...
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